It has been unfortunate to watch the apparent disintegration of the leadership of the Cesar Chavez School Network, a system that had been widely hailed as a charter school success story.

The drama has included audits, questions of financial and educational improprieties and, last week, temporary restraining orders against the network’s chief executive, Lawrence Hernandez, and his wife, Annette.

While distressing for those of us who believe charters have an important place in the educational system, it’s essential to get to the bottom of what is going on at the Chavez network.

It’s crucial not only for the education of 900 Front Range children who are enrolled in the network, but for the future of the charter school movement.

Poorly run institutions must be culled from the mix, lest all charter schools be tainted by association.

Let us be clear: We fully support due process in examining the Cesar Chavez network, which operates two schools in Pueblo, two in Colorado Springs, and an online school. There needs to be a fair and honest examination of the network’s finances, testing practices and management.

Critics of charter schools often argue that the semi-autonomous schools, which have great freedom over hiring and firing teachers, school hours and curriculum, often lack proper oversight. However, it’s important to note that there are entities with interests or oversight roles, including the Charter School Institute, the state Department of Education and the Pueblo 60 school district, that are taking on various responsibilities in pursuing such an investigation.

It is unfortunate that the situation has turned ugly and, frankly, bizarre.

During a raucous meeting last week, the Chavez network school board voted to remove Hernandez and his wife from positions of authority in the network, but allowed them to retain leadership roles at individual schools. The board also accepted the surprise resignation of Jason Guerrero, the network’s chief financial officer.

Those decisions came only hours after a Pueblo district judge issued temporary restraining orders against the Hernandezes, barring them from having contact with the Chavez network school board president and the principal of one of the network schools.

The allegations against the Hernandezes included threats and intimidation.

It is a new wrinkle in the controversy surrounding Lawrence and Annette Hernandez, who previously had come under scrutiny for their salaries — $247,797 for Mr. Hernandez and $134,826 for Mrs. Hernandez.

Other allegations center on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) scores students have gotten and whether proper protocols were followed in administering the tests.

Those are serious allegations that must be answered.

Charter schools have emerged as an important part of the education reform movement in Colorado, and factor heavily into President Barack Obama’s education efforts. But they must not be allowed to carry on unchallenged when the freedom they embody is abused.

This coming Monday, December 17 marks the 55th anniversary of the Clean Air Act. Coincidentally, it is also the end of the public comment period for the Trump administration’s proposal to undermine that act and eviscerate Environmental Protection Agency safeguards to reduce methane and associated toxic air pollution from oil and gas production.

Our accountability system allows for comparisons across schools and districts at the state level, but it does not provide the data in an actionable way that allows for timely intervention or information about leading indicators of improvement.